Biogenic Emission and Secondary Atmospheric Pollution

Dear Colleagues,

A large variety of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOC) and inorganic gases (NOx, ammonia and sulfur compounds) are emitted in the troposphere from terrestrial and water sources. It is now recognized that this volatile emission is sufficiently abundant and chemically reactive to affect the quality of the atmosphere at local, continental and global scales, by producing secondary volatile pollutants (ozone, carbonyl and carboxyl compounds, peroxyacylnitrates, peroxylakil nitrates, nitric and nitrous acids) and aerosol (sulfuric acid, sulfate and nitrate salts and organic particles) through photochemical processes. Although the contribution of biogenic sources to air pollution is widely recognized, a precise assessment is made difficult by uncertainties that still remain in the emission, reactivity, transport and deposition of biogenic compounds in the atmosphere, and the difficulty to parameterize some of these processes with mathematical models. Therefore, we would like to call for papers to disseminate and share any new findings on the role that volatile compounds can play in determining secondary air pollution.

Papers are selected by a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, development and application.

Original research paper or reviews are invited in the following and related areas:

• Emission of volatile compounds from terrestrial sources (plant and soil) as well as water sources (such as ocean, lakes and rivers)
• Chemical transformations of biogenic compounds into secondary gaseous or aerosol pollutants
• Field campaigns aimed at assessing the emission of biogenic compounds and at verifying their transformation into secondary pollutants
• New methods, including remote sensing devices, for the determination of precursors and products in the emission and the atmosphere
• New databases, models and modeling results that may help to understand the importance of biogenic compounds in determining secondary atmospheric pollution at local, continental and global scales
• New potential sources in biogenic compounds in light of global changes of natural and anthropogenic origin
• Other related research

Dr. Paolo Ciccioli
Guest Editor

• volatile biogenic emission
• secondary air pollution
• photochemical oxidants
• secondary aerosol
• terrestrial and water sources
• air quality
• emission, dispersion, reaction, transport and deposition
• modeling
• experimental methods
• field campaigns
• remote sensing observations